Yuki Nagato
Yuki Nagato (長門有希 Nagato Yuki) is the third person to join the SOS Brigade. At first glance, she appears to be an introverted, taciturn bibliophile. She later reveals herself to Kyon as an alien created by the Data Overmind, and possesses supernatural powers as a result. She was sent to North High to watch over Haruhi Suzumiya, and over the course of her time there she comes to develop insights into being a person, as well as emotions (according to Kyon). Appearance Yuki is very short for her "age" compared to the rest of her friends. She has short jagged purplish hair which never grows and golden brown eyes. She used to wear glasses but stopped after Kyon told her she looked better without them. Nagato rarely wears anything beyond her school uniform unless instructed to, even on weekends, though she's been known to wear more casual clothes during vacations (eg Remote Island Syndrome, Endless Eight). When Kyon met Nagato in year -3, she looked exactly the same as "now", except for some qualities of facial expression. This was in marked contrast to Haruhi Suzumiya, who looked the expected three years younger. Personality Yuki Nagato is a humanoid interface with the appearance of an ordinary North High student. It is not clear which faction of the Data Overmind she serves, though she has confirmed that she belongs to the "majority" faction and is not a member of a radical one. Nagato was created with limited social abilities, something she claims will affect her until she ceases functioning. She rarely speaks, often ignoring attempts to communicate (in Editor in Chief★Straight Ahead!, Itsuki Koizumi feared she would ignore a demand from the Student Council President to visit and so delivered the message himself), using gestures like nods, staring or pointing, or giving one word replies. Sometimes she provides a complex explanation using mostly scientific terms to explain even the simplest of things, or announces events which other Brigade members might not notice. Her responsiveness has increased over time, at least when dealing with those she is familiar with. For instance, she ignored Tsuruya's attempts to communicate with her in year 0, but recited poetry with Tsuruya when prompted in The Surprise. Nagato's voice is usually a monotone. Nagato's facial expressions rarely change, and any such changes are minor. Careful observation is required to discern any emotional responses; Kyon is not necessarily correct in his observations. He believes the expressions of her face have changed since their first meeting (from her perspective) in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody. As a result, Nagato frequently acts "shy". For instance, she appeared unable to obtain a library card without Kyon's help. When interacting with people outside of the SOS Brigade, she frequently stares at the floor and either gives very short responses or says nothing at all, even if angry. For instance, when asked questions by Tsuruya, she first said nothing, but later responded; she reacted the same way in Live A Live when asked Haruhi's location by schoolmates. Her silent trait extends to interactions with members of the SOS Brigade; when Haruhi Suzumiya wanted to throw out her books from the SOS Brigade headquarters, Nagato could do little more than glare at her. Nagato has frequently communicated with Koizumi, but only on paranormal or scientific matters. Even when communicating to Mikuru Asahina about a mission in the prologue to The Intrigues, Kyon did most of the talking, and Nagato contributed "footnotes" when explaining something that Kyon forgot or could not understand. Nagato has become increasingly more willing to communicate with the SOS Brigade, especially Kyon and Asahina. This is a trait not shared by some other Data Overmind humanoid interfaces. Ryoko Asakura has shown a wide range of social abilities, even taking part in events not related to her mission. However, she still appeared to have a limited vocal range and set of facial expressions. Nagato has shown a poor understanding of emotions, especially her own. She attributed her actions in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya to "erroneous files accumulated in her memory database". When pushed to describe her own emotions, she usually says nothing or gives an understated answer, such as "relatively" enjoying books and being "a little bit" disappointed at being rejected. She rarely expresses opinions, and these are usually based on those of the Data Overmind (such as describing a data organism as "primitive", describing human computers in a similar manner, or commenting positively on interactions with the Sky Canopy Domain despite the negative effect on her). She was able to determine why "Michuru" thought her behavior was disturbing when Michiru stayed over at her apartment overnight, also commenting that Michiru's analysis was wrong. Nagato has made repeated attempts to relieve Kyon's concerns. She often tells him "don't worry" when she is injured or something strange panics him and can tell if someone is disturbed. She also behaves in a manner which would please Haruhi (such as telling her that her cooking was "delicious" or setting up a mystery in Mystérique Sign). However, her analyses of human behavior are often flawed, being based on incomplete information. Nagato seems to have little interest in generic human activities and only participates in events dictated by Haruhi Suzumiya. She steps out of this to protect the timeline or to prevent the creation of closed space (she participated much more forcefully in baseball once closed space was created, upon Itsuki Koizumi's prompting). This behavior extended to her method of decorating her apartment (she didn't before The Disappearance) and her lack of desire to engage in Literature Club activities, at least in her first year at North High. (In her second year, her attempts at recruiting students involved her describing deficiencies in verbal communication.) Nagato is very fond of reading and later developed computer programming as a hobby. She has occasionally demonstrated interest in human activities, such as watching fireworks and reciting poetry. Nagato appears to have a low opinion of herself. She was willing to endure prolonged isolation for her mission when watching over Kyon and Mikuru Asahina for three years in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and made no effort to break free from the time loop of Endless Eight, as her purpose was only to observe. In The Dissociation she stated that she would protect the rest of the SOS Brigade, but Kyon said "having no concern for yourself is behavior I absolutely will not allow." Nagato poorly conceals her inhuman nature although her normal appearance helps her avoid suspicion. For instance, when referring to someone by name, she always uses their full name. (When speaking to someone, she does not use their name, simply referring to them as "you". She referred to the Computer Research Society President as a "male student", despite having heard his name from Emiri Kimidori. Other humanoid interfaces have not demonstrated this behavior.) Kyon even noted that she doesn't blink often (in The Sigh) or simply stares into space. According to Ryoko Asakura, Nagato taught her to act according to her own will, which she believed had something to do with evolution, and that she and Nagato are more alike than Kimidori. In The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, Yuki is depicted as a closet otaku, shamelessly playing eroge games, cosplaying (even getting into a brief cosplay war with Mikuru before the latter concedes), and getting "excited" about anime and manga. Biography According to Yuki, she was created three years prior to meeting Kyon and Haruhi, with the purpose of observing humanity and its ability to evolve in intelligence, and more importantly, Haruhi Suzumiya and the data flare that she created around that time. To Yuki, Haruhi is the key to evolution. Yuki is stationed in an apartment complex where several other Humanoid Interfaces are implied to live, in room 708, alone. Yuki remains in standby mode until "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", when a future version of Mikuru and Kyon come to visit her, telling her that they are from three years later and require her assistance to return to their time. After synchronizing with her future self, Yuki confirms them as acquaintances, and puts them in a room for three years, freezing time within in order to help them return. Meanwhile, another future Mikuru and Kyon come, informing her that in three years the world will be altered and that she needs to help them. Knowing that she is the one responsible for changing the world, she gives Mikuru and Kyon the tools needed to change her astray self back to normal. Three years later, Yuki attends North High and becomes the only member of the Literature Club. This becomes a selling point for Haruhi, who immediately uses her room with only one occupant. Haruhi eventually comes to use Yuki as a part of the Brigade because of the mystérique around her. Yuki is the first to tell Kyon about her identity as an alien; Kyon thus trusts her the most out of the three supernatural brigade members. During an early SOS Brigade trip, Kyon took her to the library and got her a card, which seemed to give her happy memories. When Ryoko Asakura tries to kill Kyon in the hopes that it would cause Haruhi to create a data explosion, Yuki saves his life, but forgets to repair her glasses, the first sign that she is fallible. Yuki is also one of the people who gives a clue to Kyon about how to get out of the closed space created by Haruhi: "sleeping beauty". Yuki stages Emiri Kimidori in the "Mystérique Sign" incident as a pretend client in order to save a bunch of people trapped in an alternate dimension due to a logo Haruhi makes, in order to keep Haruhi entertained. She continually pulls strings from behind the scenes in a similar way Itsuki does. During the filming for "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00", Haruhi accidentally causes the Mikuru Beam to become real, and thus Yuki is forced to take a large role in preventing Haruhi noticing by blocking the Mikuru Beam with her hand and injecting nanomachines into Mikuru (biting her) to prevent it from materializing again. In "The Day of Sagittarius", Yuki is revealed to have somewhat of a passion for computers and hacking, something Kyon does not fail to notice. He supported her participating in occasional Computer Research Society activities over Haruhi's objections. According to the Computer Research Society's president in The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya, she is very helpful and even creates a new OS that everything is compatible with. The Disappearance Arc .]] Yuki's most prominent moment is in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, in which due to "errors" (which Kyon classifies as "emotions") Yuki steals some of Haruhi's powers to create an alternate universe in which Haruhi, Itsuki, Yuki, and Mikuru are normal humans, Haruhi and Itsuki do not attend North High, Ryoko is a student, and there is no SOS Brigade. Kyon notices a stark difference in her actions up until that point, mainly because Yuki had been anticipating this would happen and was unable to prevent it. In the alternate world, Yuki is simply a shy, introverted girl, but clearly has true emotions because she shows fear when Kyon first bursts into her room. As she still lives alone, this becomes a problem because she rarely gets the will to eat and Ryoko must act as a concerned neighbor and bring her food. Yuki clearly takes an interest in Kyon, as she invites him to the Literature Club and gets him to stay for dinner by pulling on his sleeve. Kyon eventually turns the universe back to normal, after realizing that Yuki preserved his memories of the former world because she trusted his judgment and wanted him to make the choice. Kyon was sent back to see Nagato three years previously. He and Asahina (big) met at her place, where they discussed the incident. Nagato attempted to synchronize with her future self but failed, but was given a message - it was her that had altered the world in the future. Unable to leave due to the need to keep the "other" Kyon and Asahina "frozen" in time, Nagato gave Kyon a device he would use to inject her human self to transform her back—her glasses, transformed into a "gun". She told them they had to arrive right after the world was transformed. She injected them with protective nanites and programmed Asahina's TPDD. They arrived December 18th and witnessed Nagato changing the world, creating a timequake in the process. Kyon advanced on the human Nagato and, upon realizing she no longer recalled her past, attempted to transform her. Unfortunately, Ryoko Asakura, seeing him as a threat to Nagato, attacked him, stabbing him in the back with a knife. Another version of Nagato, Asahina and Kyon arrived from the future to rescue the situation, changing human Yuki back to normal. Kyon ended up in a hospital, but with much lighter injuries due to Nagato's reality-altering powers. Kyon awoke three days later, and went to see Nagato. She told him the Data Overmind threatened to delete her for her accumulated "errors" causing her to malfunction; however, Kyon blackmails the Overmind into keeping Nagato alive. He came to believe these "errors" were in fact emotions. The Aftermath Afterward, Yuki places a limit on some of her abilities, such as synchronization. In "Love at First Sight", one of Kyon's middle school classmates, named Nakagawa, makes a love confession to Yuki and asks her to marry him in ten years. Yuki declines, declaring that her self-control mechanism will be unable to be stable after ten years, but remains curious about Nakagawa. As it turns out, Nakagawa did not see Yuki but instead the Data Overmind, and became confused by it. Yuki thus removes Nakagawa's ability to see the Entity. When Kyon asks if it was a pity that the first person to confess to her turns out to be a fake, Yuki replies that it was, "a little bit". In "Snow Mountain Syndrome", the Sky Canopy Dominion attempts to communicate with Yuki by creating an alternate dimension with a snow storm and interfering with her ability to connect to the Entity. Eventually, they cause Yuki to fall into a fever, and Yuki is forced to create a program with an ambiguous answer that eventually releases the Brigade. In the prologue to The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyon and Asahina (small) met with Nagato in order to resolve the time loop situation from the end of The Disappearance. Nagato asked Kyon not to say anything to her human form. The trio arrived, cloaked by Nagato's powers. Nagato converted her previous self to an interface again and dissolved Asakura. When the other version of Nagato asked to synchronize, the newer Nagato said no, simply because she did not wish to. Yuki plays an important part in The Intrigues, besides making chocolates for Kyon and Itsuki along with the other girls. Yuki helps Kyon and Mikuru fill out their missions set by the older Mikuru, and even receives a letter herself from the older Mikuru. She reveals that she has blocked out her ability to transfer her consciousness through time, and thus believes she is more "free" in this sense (although Kyon senses she is depressed from "knowing too much"). In "Editor in Chief★Straight Ahead!", Yuki writes a cryptic, somewhat poetic horror prose that implies confusion about her meaning in the world. In "Wandering Shadow", Yuki detects the presence of silicon data lifeforms in neighborhood dogs and manages to transplant them safely into Shamisen. At the beginning of her fourth year (The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya), Yuki invites new students to her Literature Club with a "speech" called "Neurological studies on the incomplete transmission of information and feelings through words" but fails to invite any new members. She meets Kuyou Suou and has a silent but seemingly angry confrontation with her. Kyon could barely hear their attempts to communicate as background noise. Line On Monday, Kyon met Nagato in the SOS HQ at lunchtime. He asked about her Kuyou Suou, learning that her faction had orchestrated the Snow Mountain Syndrome, and that she was interested in Haruhi Suzumiya but that wasn't necessarily her primary purpose. The Data Overmind had chosen a new provisional name for the Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence, the Sky Canopy Dominion, and that attaching names was a new concept and progress. Nagato told him she would protect the rest of the SOS Brigade from any potential attacks from Kuyou Suou. Kyon told her having no concern for herself is behavior he absolutely will not allow. When Kyon merely thought of Yasumi Watahashi, a strange new Brigade recruit as being strange, Nagato reacted oddly, pausing and raising her eyelids. On Friday, Kyon received a note from Watahashi, but was worried it would lure him into a trap, because of how he'd been nearly killed by Ryoko Asakura. He found Nagato in the clubroom during the schoolday and asked about Yasumi Watahashi. Nagato started by saying the girl was "nothing", but also noted there was no student by that name at the school. Nagato told him she was different from an alien, time traveler, esper or slider, the last one she specifically mentioned without being prompted. When Kyon pressed Nagato about Watahashi being "normal", Nagato said she could not reply at the moment. Kyon asked if that was of her own volition, but Nagato seemed confused by that. The Data Overmind restricted her information, but she said a response would come from her if a positive outcome was likely. Kyon gave her the note, and she told him he should go to the meeting, and theorized that Watahashi would assist him in some manner. Line By Saturday evening, Nagato was suffering from an illness, though it was not immediately obvious. Kyon called her, asking about a meeting he would have the next morning with Sasaki and her people. She told him it wasn't dangerous for him to go, that she wasn't able to establish communication with Kuyou Suou, and also told him the salutation of the Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence had been changed to Sky Canopy Dominion. When Kyon went to the meeting, Emiri Kimidori was there, "disguised" as a waitress. Kyon would only later realize she was there due to Nagato's illness. On Monday afternoon, at the end of The Dissociation, Yuki claims to have caught the flu on the phone to Haruhi, which seems impossible to Kyon given that she is a Data Humanoid Interface. In The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, the SOS Brigade visits her at her house. Kyon talks to her and finds that she has been sick since the café incident. When Kyon asks if negotiation with Kuyou Suou is possible, Nagato comments that she does not have the same social "tools" Ryoko had (in short, she is defining her shyness). She tells him that he should do nothing for her. During a text-message chat with her, Kyon finds that she is becoming more and more delirious, and that the Sky Canopy Dominion is directly responsible for her sickness; she eventually leaves the message "need to sleep" (Kyon is relieved at this, seeing this statement as making her more humanlike). Kyon rushed off to confront Kuyou Suou, but ended up being dragged into data jurisdiction by a revived Ryoko Asakura and Emiri Kimidori. During the battle simulation, Kimidori reveals that Yuki is trying to contact the Sky Canopy Dominion at the moment, as they first contacted her (because Yuki is closest to Haruhi), possibly being the cause for her sickness; however, the Data Overmind will do nothing about it, and the Data Overmind may be the ones who make the decision whether she may recover or not. Haruhi planned to take the SOS Brigade to visit Nagato every day after school. Meanwhile, a furious Kyon contacted Sasaki in an effort to deal with the situation. The meeting was on the next day, a Tuesday, Fujiwara told Kyon that Kuyou Suou could stop the "attack" (Kuyou herself said it wasn't accomplishing anything) as long as Kyon agreed to transfer Haruhi's powers to Sasaki. Sasaki herself though this was blackmail, and didn't agree with this. Kyon refused Fujiwara's offer, but Fujiwara told him to take his time, and that as a predetermined event Kyon had no choice but to succumb to the pressure. By Thursday Haruhi wanted to take her to a hospital, suspecting something unusual about the illness. Kyon vetoed the idea, worried that the hospital would become suspicious when their remedies didn't work, and suggested she go to Koizumi for help instead. He told her that Nagato wanted to stay cool and calm and had to approve anything that would happen to her. That evening, Haruhi only took Asahina with her to Nagato's place. On Friday, Haruhi couldn't stop worrying about Nagato's illness. Combined Timeline Following the confrontation, Nagato was removed from her post facilitating communication between the Data Overmind and Sky Canopy Domain as the level of communication that could be sustained was insufficient. Nagato's new task was to observe Haruhi Suzumiya and Kuyou Suou. Powers Yuki Nagato has special powers being a humanoid interface. Physical Powers Nagato has displayed superhuman strength, agility, and stamina. She appears to be immune to pain. Nagato has displayed unusual minor abilities, such as holding her breath for a very long time, not suffering sunburn despite her very pale skin, and being immune to the effects of alcohol. She also appears to be immune to human diseases, so any time she does get ill, it's seen as a serious attack on her. Nagato's reaction time is fast enough for her to repeatedly block several laser beams from Mikuru's "Mikuru Beam" attack. Nagato seems to have "odd" food requirements. Sometimes she eats at normal speed (such as during The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya), but later she often ate at rapid speed (seen in Lone Island Syndrome). Kyon became so used to this he became worried when Nagato ate slowly in Snow Mountain Syndrome. In The Intrigues she ate a triple-sized portion of food during a regular meal. She often ignores food or drink placed in front of her, but at other times has gulped down large offerings of food. Sensory Powers Nagato has very keen eyesight, and her glasses seem to have been props, since she stopped wearing them after Kyon complimented her on how she looked without glasses. She has demonstrated the ability to discern body temperature, detect directions, sense laser beams and subatomic particles and even determine their mass. She can sense other data organisms and all manners of strange phenomena, but the ability is not infallible. (For instance, she could not immediately determine that a pair of dogs had been infected with a data parasite, and took time to determine that Nakagawa was an esper.) Nagato could "scan" a highly-advanced computer which contained information about time travel. Mental Abilities As shown in Live Alive, Nagato seems to be able to memorize the piece of music by looking at it once. In the same episode she is also able to play the guitar without any problems. As shown in Endless Eight, Yuki Nagato has the ability to remember things that are supposed to be erased by being a part of the Data Overmind. However, she is not infallible; she once forgot to reconstruct her glasses after they were broken in a battle. Nagato could "intuit" data she had collected from a damaged advanced computer. In the anime, she seemingly has difficulties with some distinctly human objects, such as computer mice and rifles. She demonstrated difficulty in drawing pictures of faces in Snow Mountain Syndrome. Nagato's multitasking abilities gave her a great advantage when playing Saggitarius III. She was able to control 20 groups while countering a hack attempt simultaneously. Data Powers As a humanoid interface, Nagato has numerous powers, seemingly enhanced when in a space under data jurisdiction. Many but not all of her powers require her to use "incantations" (in which she speaks a computer language very quickly) or arm movements (best seen in The Disappearance). In the first light novel, this speech was translated as Structured Query Language (SQL): "SELECT serial_code FROM database WHERE code='data' ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data HAVING terminate_mode" By contrast, in the anime, her incantations sound like she is speaking backwards quickly. Nagato can manipulate "chance", such as determining who takes the "long straw", as demonstrated most clearly in The Intrigues. Nagato can manipulate the properties of the environment, such as when she modified a baseball bat to only hit home runs, modified a baseball's movements, or destroyed a section of fence. Kyon refers to this as "bogus magic". She can modify some of her own properties (such as her weight/mass, which Kyon noticed when taking her and Haruhi on a bike ride during Endless Eight). Nagato appears to have the ability to teleport, which she demonstrated in the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya when breaking into space under data jurisdiction. However, she seemingly could not enter Haruhi's closed space. She used a similar ability in the running contest in The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. The way she described her ability to Kyon made it seem like teleportation, but she still performed worse than Haruhi Suzumiya in the contest. She later used a similar ability to escape an irate person (while the rest of the Brigade had to run) and may have used the ability when blocking the Mikuru Beam. In Mystérique Sign she used a similar ability to enter a data organism's dimension, which bore similarities both to closed space and data jurisdiction. Nagato can use her abilities to reconstruct her body (healing from damage). This appears to be an active process, and she has not used the ability while using other data abilities (she put her repair request in queue). Nagato once healed Mikuru from a knockout poison and was able to at least partially heal a wounded Kyon, making it look like he had fallen down the stairs. Nagato can transmit data via computers and Kyon's cell phone, even when the latter was trapped in closed space. She rarely demonstrates this ability and has only been seen using it to communicate with Kyon. She was able to program Mikuru's TPDD through touch. Nagato has demonstrated the ability to create a "cover story" with her data manipulation abilities. Nagato can create a barrier which renders people invisible and inaudible. Nagato had to dissolve the barrier to take action. She may be able to alter computers with her abilities, having created a "do-it-yourself" computer for the Computer Research Society using an operating system that is compatible with everything, but has an unreadable source code. She can also use her "magic touch" to fix software bugs. She can communicate with the Data Overmind in order to gain information and permission to use otherwise forbidden techniques (such as nullifying Asakura's data link). Sometimes the entity will not give her the information she seeks, however (such as when she tried to get answers to Kyon's questions about life after death). Nagato was able to transfer some of her autonomous judgment capabilities to Emiri Kimidori when she fell ill in The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya. She can modify human memories, an ability she revealed in The Disappearance, when she told Kyon that if he'd known what she was going to do, she would have removed his memories. In Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Nagato "froze" Kyon and Mikuru outside of time for three years, explaining that this ability could only be used in an emergency. She later stated (in The Disappearance) that she could not leave them unattended while they were in this state. She also confirmed that she could not initiate time travel. Nagato used "dissolution factors" as an attack form to "dissolve" Asakura. The first time, they were fighting in data jurisdiction space, the second time she erased Asakura in The Intrigues. Nagato can apparently initiate some form of "magic attack" outside of data jurisdiction. In The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, Haruhi ordered Nagato to attack Mikuru with magic, full blast, and Nagato hesitated, unsure if she should follow the command. (She elected not to.) Nagato can alter the weather, revealed in The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya when Kyon asked her to make it rain. She was reluctant to do so, however, as that would alter the weather patterns for a long time thereafter. (Kyon decided not to ask her to do so.) Nagato also has the ability to "steal" some of Haruhi's powers and use them to her advantage, something she did in the Disappearance arc as a result of "errors". Her powers altered the previous 365 days and created a massive timequake. Data Jurisdiction Powers Nagato's powers appear to be expanded while within data jurisdiction. Nagato once entered another interface's data jurisdiction space, repairing it from the damage, and another time she used an "incantation" to enter similar space created by a more primitive data organism, which bore some similarity to both data jurisdiction and closed space. (That space was automatically repaired when the organism was defeated.) In a data jurisdiction space, she was able to create "icicles" from the surrounding structure and use them to attack an enemy. She could use this ability in "reverse" to counter Ryoko Asakura's similar attacks. with a repulsion field]] In the anime version of Mystérique Sign, Nagato demonstrated the ability to create a repulsion field which damaged (but did not destroy) a primitive data lifeform, in a space created by that organism. Nagato has shown the ability to manipulate data links, enabling her to destroy or manipulate data-based organisms. She has demonstrated the ability to reconstruct areas under data jurisdiction which had been damaged. Item Powers In The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagato injected nanomachines into Mikuru via bite to prevent her from using the Mikuru Beam. In The Disappearance, she also injected Kyon with a stealth operation screen and a protective field to protect him from hazardous effects of time travel. In each case, the bite marks swiftly faded. In The Disappearance, Nagato was able to transform her glasses into an injection system, which she referred to as "compounding". When Kyon complained, she transformed it into a device resembling a "science fiction" needle gun. Precognition Nagato has displayed at least limited precognition. She had at least some foreknowledge of Ryoko Asakura's attack and Kyon being trapped in closed space in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (saying that Kyon would be "first" if the radical faction moved and telling him to "be careful" before he was trapped). In the anime version of Live Alive she gave a long series of seemingly accurate (but mundane) predictions. Until the Disappearance arc, Yuki has the ability to transport her consciousness through time by "synchronization"; however, she herself blocks this off after the arc in order to prevent errors (according to Yuki, this gives her more options for the future as well). In The Intrigues she revealed that she had given up the ability, which meant she did not know why a time-displaced version of Mikuru Asahina was visiting the "current" time plane. The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan Yuki also stars in the official spin-off The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki chan manga and series. Her appearance in this spinoff is based on the alternate Yuki from The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, but Kyon's memory of the "real world" was erased, so he didn't activate the Emergency Escape Program. While she appears to be human, Yuki still possesses incredible intellect and sometimes seems to think like a computer. After getting injured in a car accident, she began acting like her previous self, and gained at least some of her original memories. Relationships with SOS Brigade members Haruhi Suzumiya Yuki is not shown to ever have opinions of Haruhi beyond what the Data Overmind believes. Yuki follows Haruhi's orders (although generally following Kyon's orders in preference to hers) and sometimes flatters her (e.g. calling her cooking delicious, ensuring she had no conflicts with schedules assigned by Haruhi, making it clear that she and Kyon had not been on a date at the library, etc.). Yuki occasionally displayed irritation with Haruhi's demands (such as glaring at her when Haruhi said she wanted to throw her books out from the SOS Brigade HQ, or protesting that she didn't need to be carried after getting sick in the Snow Mountain Incident) but has never openly defied Haruhi without Kyon's support. Yuki is the only member of the Brigade who stood by and took no action when Kyon attempted to strike Haruhi and when Haruhi abducted Kyon into her own private dimension, Yuki relayed the message that the Data Overmind wanted Haruhi back, but that she herself wanted Kyon back. Kyon Yuki treats Kyon as a superior figure, even naively following his "orders" (such as, during Mystérique Sign, she misinterpreted something he said and "froze" in place until he told her she could move), and followed his orders when he limited her power during the Day of Sagittarius incident. Over time, Yuki became more willing to communicate with Kyon. In The Melancholy she stared at Kyon and Mikuru playing Othello until Kyon invited her to play, and only asked Kyon to take her to the library again by computer message, but by The Intrigues she was willing to ask him favors (such as not talking to her alternate variant). That Yuki is not native to Earth is a fairly closely held secret, so Kyon functions as a native guide who is not beholden to one of the other two factions around Haruhi. In fact, she actually seems to prefer to take his advice over Haruhi's, as seen in The Day of Sagittarius, when the Computer Club President asked Yuki to participate in Computer Club activities, Haruhi immediately tried to decline the offer for Yuki, but Kyon told her to do what she wanted, so she chose to take the Computer Club President up on his offer. Yuki is very protective of Kyon (she sees protecting him and Haruhi as her primary mission), and believes him personally to be important. In The Melancholy, Yuki said she personally wishes for Kyon and Haruhi to return. She also promises she will protect Kyon from any Human Interfaces should they attack him like Asakura did. This could mean that even if her master changed views, she still might protect Kyon. In The Dissociation she told Kyon that protecting him and Haruhi were her primary function. Yuki also trusts Kyon's judgment very much, as when she creates a new world in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, she preserves his memories of the old world in order to give him the choice of which world to keep. Yuki has become somewhat more independent of Kyon as the light novel series continued. For instance, in Mystérique Sign she even accidentally followed his orders, but in The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya she refused to tell him what Haruhi's surprise was, and in Editor in Chief★Straight Ahead! she refused to let him see the story she was writing, even when he asked her to. (Instead, she hid the story and eventually glared at him when he kept trying to peek at it.) Kyon, in turn, has occasionally taken Yuki for granted, such as not going to the library with her when she asked him to in The Melancholy and several times inviting and then "dumping" her in The Intrigues. (He did so a second time, even after apologizing.) Yuki has sometimes denied Kyon information. For instance, in the timeline of The Surprise, she declared Yasumi Watahashi to be "less than nothing". Mikuru Asahina Mikuru is intimidated by Yuki's powers so they aren't close and rarely talk. The older Asahina seems to still have such problems. In The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya Yuki occasionally spoke politely to Mikuru (e.g. telling her not to do dishes, as she was a guest) and spent a night staring at her. Mikuru told Kyon that Yuki wanted to be more like her, but Yuki has denied this. Mikuru also noted that Yuki was upset about Kyon not staying with her in the library, and told Kyon to apologize. Itsuki Koizumi Yuki is not shown to ever have opinions of Itsuki beyond what the Data Overmind believes. She occasionally communicates with him about theories or queries, but never has real conversations. Koizumi is the only person who understands her when she gives a complicated answer; she often has to simplify things for Kyon. Koizumi complained that she never responded to his inquiries about her powers, and he had to gain information from other TFEIs instead (who, in turn, tell his 'Agency' very little). Koizumi has occasionally supported Yuki in various activities, such as suggesting he would help her find hobbies beyond reading (Mystérique Sign short story) and supporting Kyon when he gave Nagato permission to visit the Computer Society (politely put over Suzumiya's objections). Also, in the light novels (Mystérique Sign), Kyon thought that Koizumi and she made a good combination, and if they went out for walks together, that would make them good. Yuki Nagato's 100 Books KEY: *(JP) Japanese books *(I) Koizumi Itsuki's choice *(Y) Nagato Yuki's choice Non-Japanese books Section Japanese books section Music Nagato stars in two CDs, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Song Vol. 2 Yuki Nagato and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya New Character Song Vol. 2 Yuki Nagato, featuring Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite, SELECT?, under "Mebius" and MUSICA of the Passage Point. Trivia *Yuki has several parallels to Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both characters are depicted as being generally silent, emotionless, and unsociable. Their names are also similar: "Yuki" means "snow" in Japanese (also "joy" or "rare"), while "Rei" may be read as "ice". "Nagato" and "Ayanami" were also names of Japanese warships in World War II; the former being a battleship, and the latter a destroyer. Rei Ayanami is popular enough to have a series of "clones", some of which may have been influenced by Nagato. *"Nagato" means "Gate Master" or "Long Gate", a possible reference to her relationship to the Data Overmind. *Nagato is in fact about 1,319 years old when one takes into account the time she's spent in Haruhi's time loop in Endless Eight. Her confusing short story in Editor in Chief★Straight Ahead! suggests she might be even older, perhaps having existed in a non-humanoid form prior to being made into an interface. However, Ryoko Asakura referred to her having a short three year life. *According to some fans, Yuki does not like or perhaps even hates Mikuru, seeing her as a potential romantic rival to Kyon. This makes sense, since continuously throughout the anime, Kyon adores Mikuru for her cuteness and appeal, and seems to glare at Kyon after he took Mikuru on a "date" in The Melancholy of Mikuru Asahina. In The Disappearance, alternate Yuki appears to be interested in Kyon, making this theory more valid. *Other fans believe that because of Yuki's nature as an interface and as Kyon says she doesn't have a complete personality, she would instead be envious of Mikuru, due to her lack of understanding/having emotions. *A running gag in The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is when ever a party or something else for which Yuki has put in considerable effort is about to happen Asakura will tell her not to play games and go to sleep. Only to come in the next day and find she stayed up all night playing games resulting in Asakura yelling at her. *Yuki entered Saimoe Contests, and was the runner-up for ISML 2008. Her results can be seen here. *Tsuruya used the nickname Nagatocchi to refer to Yuki in The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya light novel. Reference Notes es:Yuki Nagato Category:Humanoid Interface Category:Characters